Abstract The cliffs and foreshore at Lyme Regis on the Dorset coast expose a sequence of Early Jurassic marine limestones and mudstones of the Blue Lias Formation and the overlying Charmouth Mudstone Formation, the lowest units of the Hettangian–Aalenian Lias Group. Known for its fossils since at least the mid-seventeenth century, this coastal section became famous in the early nineteenth century for the bones of ‘fossil crocodiles’. Many of the most significant discoveries were made by a family of fossil dealers whose best-known member was Mary Anning (1799–1847). Anning and her family recovered the first scientifically described ichthyosaurs, the first complete plesiosaur and the first British pterosaur to be identified. Anning's finds from Lyme Regis formed the basis of the pioneering palaeoenvironmental reconstruction Duria antiquior . Her geologist friends, some with close personal associations to the town, did much to publicize her discoveries and contribute to both her fame and that of the locality. This famous coastal section, with its important historical associations with a key period in the development of geology and the source of so many significant discoveries in the early nineteenth century, now lies within the Jurassic Coast UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Coprolites: Definition and Recognition Webster’s “New International Dictionary of the English Language” defines Coprolite as “fossil dung or excrement.” Its etymology stems from Greek “kopros,” meaning dung or excrement, and “litos” which signifies stone or rock. In French, the term is coprolithe, in German, Koprolith, and in Spanish, coprolito. The term coprolites was first assigned to bodies found in the Lias of Lyme Regis, England, by W. Buckland (1829). These bodies were described as fossil fir cones before Buckland recognized their true nature. The same author also is probably the first scientist to correctly interpret the origin of these bodies. The nature of animal excrements, however, was known much before his time. In the 17th century M. Lister mentioned excrements in his Historia animalium Angliae tractatus (1768), relating their forms to the intestinal tracts of the animal: “Praeterea, ex excrementarum differentia, certum est intestinorum figuram aliam atque aliam esse in diversis speciebus.” The term coprolite has been defined in different ways. Some of the more important definitions have been listed by Amstutz (1958, p. 498-500) and, therefore, it is not necessary to repeat them here. The shortest definition — fossilized excrements of animals — seems to be the best. It is independent of the size and chemical composition of the “fossils” in question. There is no advantage in restricting the term only to larger excrements (some authors excluded the small faecal pellets) or in using it exclusively for nodular phosphatic masses or impure calcium phosphate, as proposed by some geologists and paleontologists.

ABSTRACT In late 1829 or early 1830, Henry Thomas De la Beche (1796–1855), in collaboration with William Buckland (1784–1856), published Duria antiquior [ A more ancient Dorsetshire ], the earliest known paleoecological illustration of ancient life. De la Beche’s interpretation was based largely on fossils then recently uncovered from Lower Jurassic (Lias) rocks near Lyme Regis on the south coast of England. Many of these were brought to scientific attention by local fossil collector and dealer Mary Anning (1799–1847). De la Beche published Duria antiquior as a lithograph, copies of which were sold as a fundraiser for Anning, who was then in straitened circumstances. Duria antiquior represented a new style of paleontological illustration that pioneered a new scientific genre addressing the history of nature and an innovative viewpoint where the observer glimpses lifeforms through the water. Other authors modified and adopted De la Beche’s visionary illustration, and the style became commonplace in popular geological publications in the later nineteenth century. Duria antiquior can be acknowledged as the pioneering graphic from which fossil organisms’ reconstructions and modern computer-generated paleoecosystem animations trace their origins.

Abstract Recent UK Government guidance has emphasized the need to take account of landslide problems in the land use planning process ( DoE 1990 , 1996 ). To assist the implementation of this policy, the then Department of the Environment (DoE) commissioned a number of demonstration projects to develop approaches to assess the potential for landsliding and to identify the best ways of in corporating this information in the planning process. In the UK there are many situations where historic development has resulted in the concentration of urban development and infrastructure on unstable ground. This is often on a scale such that total avoidance or abandonment are out of the question, as is recourse to large-scale and inordinately expensive engineering solutions (e.g. the Bath area, Lyme Regis, the South Wales valleys, etc. ( Jones & Lee 1994 )). Under these circumstances, detailed knowledge of slope instability is required so that pragmatic policies can be developed to assist communities to reduce risk. This approach has been pioneered by the detailed study of the Undercliff at Ventnor, on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, England ( Lee & Moore 1991 ; Lee et al.1991a , b , c ; Moore et al 1991 ).